Hello friends, please, can some one give me some advice about this painting? Could this painting be an autentic Giambattista Pittoni? I'm thinking to buy the book Pittoni: L'opera completa (Franca Zava Boccazzi) then take the painting to an expert. It will cost money, that's why i'm asking some advice before make that investment. Apreciate your help.
Well, the label says "at_ to" which is likely an abbreviation for "attributed to." Not the same thing as "by." Debora
It is a lovely painting, but I don't see the detailing in the faces and hands that I would expect from Giambattista Pittoni.
Whoever did it they were very good at shade and color but lousy at anatomy. She's got a swollen left eye that seems to be migrating towards her left ear and also has some amazingly long fingers on her left hand. Yuk!! Might be a Giambattista Pittoni student work. Cheers Stephen
I would try and see some known authentic canvas weaves from that time. Looking at the back of a canvas for age is often more informative than the front.
You are correct Debora, but I always say, anything and everything can be said on paper. That's why i'm asking help. Thanks
Yes, of course. You're wise not to trust a label. But, that said, at some point your painting was sold as a copy because it could not be proven it was genuine. And given the execution flaws identified by other posters, unlikely painted by master. Debora
This could be one of those "Grand Tour" copies - a nice souvenir piece done by a student or other copyist for sale to rich tourists. Beyond that...dunno. I'm no art expert, unless it's in bad art.
Thanks Debora, i'm not a rich person, but this was my biggest buy in auction. $2125 for a 55 x 38 in. painting that i liked much. Could be a 18th painting, i don't know how the canvas feels, it's not flexible, it's like the leather of a drum.
I know what you says, but the thickness of the canvas dont match with the 19th era. I got one of that kinds of replica. I'm doing my homework, i'll try to send photos to Dottoressa Annalissa Scarpa, an expert, if i can find her email, hahaha, who know maybe is a Sebastiano Ricci.
I'll be completely honest and say prior to reading this, I had never heard of Giambattista Pittoni...With that out of the way, I offer up my humble and amateur assessment of your painting compared to other known Pittoni works: 1. The first difference that stands out to me is known works of Pittoni all seem to show a mastery of arm and body shadows. Pittoni doesn't seem to slather shadows anywhere, but rather a careful calculation to embellish bodily features and to add depth to the painting. Contrast that to your painting, and I don't see this in the same manner. Whoever did this painting shadowed out from an object. For example, looking at the sleeve, they simply extended a shadow from the edge of the sleeve. For a Pittoni artwork, I would expect to see some overlapping shadows on arms/face/etc. 2. One similarity: Pittoni's work has an effect to "draw the viewers eyes" across the painting. I found myself looking at his work and being led across the artwork in a particular pattern as a function of his staging of figures and background. Your eyes are almost forced away from the dull parts of the painting and coerced to look at the most active parts of the work. I get the same sense from your painting, that the focus of the work is to lead your eyes up into the heavens. 3. The most glaring difference as I compare anatomical capabilities is this painters hands are much more amateur compared to Pittoni's. The subjects closed right hand looks very rough compared to known Pittoni paintings. The elements of this painting look borrowed, perhaps from Annunciation 1758: https://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/pittoni.php Or from the first painting on this page: https://alchetron.com/Giambattista-Pittoni-1081549-W Hope that helps, that's the end of my amateur assessment!